Today at the Japanese Corner, you'll find a new interview with Hidenobu Takahashi, director of Grandia II, the upcoming Dreamcast RPG from the creators of Lunar. In the interview, Takahashi discusses the game's development, as well as new features that will distinguish Grandia II from other RPGs while making it even better than the first Grandia. The interview has been translated into English (thanks to the Japanese Corner for this).

Some excerpts from the interview:

Japanese Corner: How big is the development team, and how long has Grandia II been in development?

Takahashi: About 200 staff members were involved in the creation of Grandia II. The development period was (two-and-a-half years), but we were able to finalize (the game) after two years and two months of the development schedule.

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Japanese Corner: Will the story line in Grandia II be advanced through voice acting and cinematic cut-scenes?

Takahashi: I believe that voice talents are very important for the story. Voice acting illustrates the character‚s qualities and the character‚s role throughout the story. Dialogue, voice acting, and other expressions (sighing, breathing, etc.) will be added to the game context. Regarding the cut-scenes, storyline cinematics are used and I think that the storyline is fully expressed in the game itself.